TikTok Ban Bill Spotlights Open Secret: App Loses Money

TikTok, facing a growing threat of a U.S. ban, has been a global juggernaut over the past few years, drawing more than a billion monthly users and prompting rivals to launch similar services. But what is an open secret among investors is that the app loses money.

TikTok’s parent, ByteDance, doesn’t disclose TikTok’s financial performance. But ByteDance investors estimate TikTok lost several billion dollars last year on revenue of roughly $20 billion.